I just started playing D and D about 4 months ago I was wondering if this might be a good build. I was thinking of making a sinister, but elegant drow bard with a white viol and fights mainly with a rapier he has a bit of a superiority complex, and won't back down from a challenge(especially musical) to a fault, but with some character development though that'll change.
Race: Drow
Background: Charlatan
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Standard Array stats/ Stats Racial Ability Score Increase:
Str 8
Dex 12/ 14
Con 14
Int 13
Wis 10
Cha 15/ 16
Class: Bard 15 Warlock 3 Rogue 2
Bard 2
Hexblade Warlock 1
Whispers Bard 1
Hexblade Warlock 1
Rogue 1
Hexblade Warlock 1
Whispers Bard 1
Rogue 1
Whispers Bard 11
Skills: Intimidation, Persuasion, Stealth, Charlatan: Deception, Sleight of Hand
Eldritch Invocations: Devil's Sight, Mask of Many Faces
Level 6:
Proficiencies: Investigation, Thieves' tools
Expertise: Investigation, Stealth
Sneak Attack(1d6)
Thieves' Cant
Level 7:
Warlock level 2 spell: Misty Step
Pact Boon: Pact of the Chain
Level 8:
Bard level 2 spell: Phantasmal Force
New Bard cantrip: Thunderclap
ASI/Feat: +2 Cha
Level 9:
Cunning Action
Level 10:
Bard level 3 spell: Enemies Abound
Retrain: Phantasmal Force --> Hypnotic Pattern
Levels 11-20:
ASI/Feats:
Level 13: War Caster or Alert feat
Level 17: +2 Charisma
So anything I should change or tweak, or just remove. Feedback is appreciated. I understand this was a little and long and frankly quite messy so thank you for reading the whole thing.
This looks good. I'm guessing you've read a lot of Ultimate bard/hexblade/rogue stuff? Cause this seems to be based off of that type of stuff. I would take comprehend languages or another utility spell, as you seem to lack in that department (which is a shame, as bards, rogues and warlocks have some amazing utility). So maybe try to balance out combat, RP and exploration. You only have combat and roleplay at the moment (little bit of exploration).
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
Sounds like a pretty standard and stereotypical Drow bard, regarding both stats and character. Thunderclap isn't a very good cantrip, I'd take something a bit more utilitarian instead. Maybe mage hand? If you want to keep people away from you, I'd keep Thunderwave.
You should check your alignment. Evil characters are often banned by DMs, and a lot of groups don’t want to play with them at the table. You are part of a team. The dark, edgy, lone wolf shtick can get tired real quick for everyone else.
Do note, Hex and/or Hexblade's Curse are going to compete with your Bonus Action economy from Rogue (Cunning Action) and Bard (Bardic Inspiration). Not a dealbreaker, but do keep that in mind when thinking about what your combats are going to look like.
If you' don't mind being an Eldritch Blast bot, it really frees you up to drop all attack spells, in favor of taking more utility and social spells. But if you don't want to do that and do want to take things like Shatter etc.... that's ok too.
You're delaying your first ASI until level 8? That's a little rough. I'm playing a triple classed Swords/Hexblade/Swashbuckler myself and I took Bard to 4 for a feat, took one level of Hexblade, and then took 4 levels of Rogue and even for me that one level delay of an ASI between level 8 and 9 felt a bit rough.
You should check your alignment. Evil characters are often banned by DMs, and a lot of groups don’t want to play with them at the table. You are part of a team. The dark, edgy, lone wolf shtick can get tired real quick for everyone else.
I'm not making him edgy I'm making him a jerk and a little reluctant to do things for npc's in need, but will do what's in the best interest of the party 99% of the time unless it's musical. I think my DM will be good with lawful evil, but idk I'll double check.
Do note, Hex and/or Hexblade's Curse are going to compete with your Bonus Action economy from Rogue (Cunning Action) and Bard (Bardic Inspiration). Not a dealbreaker, but do keep that in mind when thinking about what your combats are going to look like.
If you' don't mind being an Eldritch Blast bot, it really frees you up to drop all attack spells, in favor of taking more utility and social spells. But if you don't want to do that and do want to take things like Shatter etc.... that's ok too.
I'll probably drop Witch Bolt and Hex, and as for cantrips I'll probably drop thunderclap, and frostbite, although without agonizing blast I won't be able to capitalize on Eldritch Blast so I'll probably keep Shatter for the advice
You're delaying your first ASI until level 8? That's a little rough. I'm playing a triple classed Swords/Hexblade/Swashbuckler myself and I took Bard to 4 for a feat, took one level of Hexblade, and then took 4 levels of Rogue and even for me that one level delay of an ASI between level 8 and 9 felt a bit rough.
I was thinking he'd be a bit squishy in between level 5-7 a little less so after, but he doesn't get 3rd level spells until 10th level so telll me.
K I took a little closer look at this, with your stated goal of being a "sinister, but elegant drow bard with a white viol and fights mainly with a rapier he has a bit of a superiority complex, and won't back down from a challenge(especially musical) to a fault."
The big takeaway I see is... I'm not sure what water the Warlock levels are really carrying here. Yes, I get that Hexblade lets you use Charisma for your melee attacks, but what I'm seeing is a character that already wants to pump Dex and Cha, so using Cha as a melee attack stat isn't essential. "Otherworldly patron" just isn't part of your core concept, and I think the Warlock levels are diluting and distracting you from emphasizing your snooty fencer angle. Pact of the Chain seems very unnecessary, unless a tiny sidekick fencer Sprite is a core conceit of the character. Mask of Many faces is nice for social encounters, but kind of thematically redundant with the Mantle of Whispers you'll be getting at Bard 6... or with just learning Disguise Self, and using a spell slot to cast it when appropriate. Devil's Sight is cute, but you aren't a character that's trying to optimize frequent casts of Darkness, so it doesn't seem essential. And Hexblade's Curse really is only relevant for one or two fights a day, and isn't that essential. Just drop the 'Lock.
Point number two is those abilities. Having a higher Constitution than Dexterity is unusual, and ultimately makes you less defensively capable. I'd drop Con to 10, bump that Dex up to starting 14(16), and use the two points you've saved to.... bump your Intelligence up to 14 if you really want to show off your smarts? That being said, there's really nothing you stopping from roleplaying a clever character with a lower Intelligence score, all that that 13 or 14 is getting you is a very small bonus to some Knowledge skills and Investigation (which could more than be made up for with a bonus proficiency or even Expertise, if its important to you)... so I'd drop it to 10 and just trust that nobody is going to give you a hard time for roleplaying as more clever (or, thinking that you're more clever) than your stats back up. That would let you start at 8/14(16)/14/10/10/15(16), which is a respectable spread for a melee-duelist/charisma caster.
I think you should take a few more Rogue levels, once you've dropped Warlock. Instead of Swashbuckler (some ok Charisma synergy, but ultimately kind of 1 dimensional), I think that Mastermind would be an excellent subclass for you. Master of Intrigue at Rogue 3 will go very nicely indeed with the earlier mentioned Mantle of Whispers at Bard 6. The Bonus languages and tools it gives (overlaps with your chosen background, which DNDBeyond and most DMs will let you just pick two other replacements) lets you be even more cultured than you already are (maybe pick up some parlor games of skill or chance, like chess or cards?). The bonus action help action will synergize nicely with hurling snooty insults or condescending advice to your allies, and give you a thematically-similar but not-resource-limited alternative to handing out bardic inspiration to allies (which you may be wanting to reserve for your Psychic Blades ability). Stopping at 6 should be sufficient, or even earlier at 4 if you don't care about having more Expertise and using a reaction every round to half damage from one source.
It's time to talk about College of Whispers. Again referring back to ""sinister, but elegant drow bard with a white viol and fights mainly with a rapier he has a bit of a superiority complex, and won't back down from a challenge(especially musical) to a fault."... I don't get mind-shattering creepo vibes off that description, but that's basically what College of Whispers is about. They psychically invade their victims, inflicting fear, stealing their faces, and doing creepy damage with their Psychic Blades. It's cool stuff, and if what you're really after is Psychic Blades, I get it... but a pompously cruel aristocrat with a drive to be the best at dueling, music, and everything else... I think there's better Colleges for that. Specifically, I think that College of Lore could be great, since it makes you better at more things (bonus skills), and lets you mock your opponents so viciously that it actually makes them bad at things (Cutting Words at 3). Or College of Swords, to actually be good at combat and combat tricks, and not just stabbing people in the brain with your cheaty psychic knives! Especially with you being a Lawful Evil drow, the theme of these colleges (good at being smarter than everyone around you and making sure they know it; great duelist) seems less likely to lead to you crossing the line into "not fitting in" than College of Whispers will (good at being a horrifying monster that shatters minds and steals faces).
To pivot back to Rogue for a second... if you do elect to go College of Swords and focus on your "I'm the best duelist!" angle, Swashbuckler might be a more attractive Rogue subclass than Mastermind. It'll let you dance around the battlefield acrobatically without worrying about attacks of opportunity, and so expand the breadth of enemies that you can sneak attack that you'll be freed up to go where your heart takes you instead of being tied to the hip of the tank to set up an adjacent ally to your target. But if you elect to go College of Lore and focus on "I'm more clever than you, peasant!" angle, I think that Mastermind is still the right subclass if only for the ability to use your Bonus Action to meaningfully belittle your opponents or backseat drive your allies.
Feats... I don't think there are any that are essential to your concept, which is in a way great since it frees you up to take ASI and become more competent more quickly, or for putting off ASI to push for multiclass features early. Inspiring Leader is a must have in every party, and gives you a mechanical justification for "leading" your group with pompous prognostications... and some stuff like Drow High Magic or Lucky could be nice.... but overall, no must-picks for you that I see.
Skills... I'm not sure why you aren't taking Performance if music is important to you, or why that isn't a contender for Expertise early on if you want to be the best at showing off. Intimidation, if anything, feels a little out of place for a character that may be more about mocking/bluffing/showing off than trying to scare people, I'd swap it out.
Put it all together... and I think I'd recommend you build up to a Bard 16/Rogue 4 or Bard 14/Rogue 6, either Lore/Mastermind or Blade/Swashbuckler (or, Whisper/Mastermind if you're set on that). If you're playing from 1, instead of giving you a level 20 snapshot (which will check off all the expected boxes like maxing Cha, Dex, tons of expertise and proficiencies, spells yada yada...), let's look at a snapshot through level 6, which is about where your first arc or adventure might take you.
Starting at level 1, I'd start with Bard and 8/14(16)/14/10/10/15(16). Three instruments, and Performance, Persuasion, and Stealth, along with Deception and Sleight of Hand from you background and the Disguise and Forgery Kits, and Perception from your race. For spells, Prestidigitation (or Minor Illusion, something to help jazz up your performances) and Vicious Mockery, in addition to the Dancing Lights you have as a Drow. For leveled spells, Hideous Laughter (for when you want to really humiliate someone or disable an opponent), Disguise Self (for when your mouth or race has gotten you into trouble and you need to get out), Charm Person (for when there's a troublesome guard or impressionable countess that could use some Enhanced Persuasion), and Silent Image (for pulling the wool over the eyes of helpless rubes). The only problem I'm seeing with this list is it's a bunch of Wisdom saves... but we can fix that in a level or two.
At level 2, I'd stick with Bard, because Jack of All Trades is the quickest way to be able to pass yourself off as The Best (or at least, Competent) at a wide variety of things. Healing Word is a good pick up if you want to be a productive member of the team, Thunderwave diversifies your combat options and the target saves of your spells (though it sounds messy, and I don't think it really fits the character's theme), or Sleep can be a good non-save non-concentration alternative in both combat and social encounters. Probably, Healing Word first is the responsible choice.
At level 3, I'd still stick with Bard: if you're going Lore, you've opened up the ability for your Cutting Words to really hurt some feelings and let people know how much better than them you are, as well as proficiency in three more skills (Acrobatics, Athletics, and Investigation?), and Expertise in two (Performance and Athletics, I'd recommend, because they're two of the most likely to "embarrass you" if you were ever to fail!). If you're going Sword, you've opened up better armor, some combat tricks, and the option to start seriously considering Two Weapon Fighting if you so wish, since your blades are now spell focuses instead of that battered Combat Violin you've been lugging around (I'd stick with Dueling though, Rogues already have plenty of use for their Bonus Action). Drow has opened up Faerie Fire, nice enough for a niche application, but for our new level 2 spells I'd suggest either Invisibility or Shatter to finally give you a damaging AOE not based on a WIS save (which is still terribly crude, but is at least less messy than Thunderwave and can be themed as a musical note or something!)... let's say Shatter.
Are we ever going to pick up Rogue?! Not yet as a Lore Bard (all it would really get you is a fair number of skills and Expertises... but we have Jack of All Trades covering that for the time being), but quite possibly now if we went Sword college, since you'll be wanting to mix things up and start handing out Sneak Attacks. Assuming you're going snooty and smart with a Lore bard, at level 4 you get an ASI (+2 to Charisma), Message or Mage Hand (I think Message comes up more often), and Invisibility (if you do a lot of solo operations) or Heat Metal (to help you cheat at duels or cook'n'book hulking opponents who outclass you in melee). Optionally you could also retrain Charm Person to Suggestion if you want to be a dick about it, but I wouldn't.
Finally! At level 5, it's time to turn to Rogue, if you're ever going to do it at all (and hey, a pure Bard is perfectly fine if you're digging your groove so far!). At Rogue 1, you get a new skill (Insight or Intimidation, I think Insight is more appropriate as a man of culture), as well as two more Expertises (Stealth and Perception?). A 1d6 Sneak Attack is nice, but how much mileage you get out of that may depend on whether you're leaning into Lore/Mastermind or Blade/Swashbuckler, only time will tell. Kind of a light level, as is the next one, but we have to put in our dues to unlock that level 3 ranged Help action or new Sneak Attack delivery method.
At level 6, second level of Rogue. It seems light, but the ability to Dash, Disengage, or Hide with that Bonus Action will honestly really start to make your combats more dynamic if you use it right. Being able to waltz bold as you please right into the enemy's back line at the start of combat is great!
Okay I'll cheat and go one further to level 7, because that's where you've realized your Rogueishness, everything after it is optional and could be more Bard or a third class. As a mastermind, suddenly you're great at Dice, Cards, and Chess (because of overlap with your background tools), as well as remembering that you speak French and Cantonese, and some particularly tasty insults to sling around as ranged Help actions. As a swashbuckler, suddenly you're running around giving wedgies to ogres without fear of Opportunity Attacks, getting a +4 to your Initiative rolls, and sneak attacking solo casters in the back line when you corner them alone. In either event, your Sneak Attacks just went up to 2d6 as well, nice.
So there it is, my recommended 1-7 build for a character that is a "sinister, but elegant drow bard with a white viol and fights mainly with a rapier he has a bit of a superiority complex, and won't back down from a challenge(especially musical) to a fault." You're a little less "sinister" (no psychic knives, face stealing, cthulu patron, or mind melting), but you're a much better rapier fighter (better AC, more focus on melee, especially as a Sword/Swash), and a better arrogant bastard (more skills and more focus on helping your team be better and enemies be worse, especially as a Lore/Master)... and I think honestly you're less likely to be singled out as a "monstrous" and evil character this way.
Thank you that was really helpful my warlock levels were intended bring effective use of friends with mask of many faces, so I could dump dexterity in favor charisma, medium armor proficiency, and devils sight to use darkness, but I realized that's drow's darkness is incompatible with spell slots, with armor of agathys and psuedodragon pet as an added perk, but I'm now realizing that, that could've been problematic, and I couldn't think of a good patron I couldn't really see him working with a patron either, I also saw College of Whispers as more eerie, but I can see where it says they're more turn everyone against each other muhahahaha stuff, and I could get stereotyped, and probably called edgy even though I'm go for more a a**hole type character, I'm having trouble deciding which bard college to choose I'm going to read over swords, valor, lore, and whispers again, but I'll probably end going with the swashbuckler build with either swords, or valor. The choice is though while valor is more supportive it's more effective as well, but swords has a fighting style and blade flourish, but it's probably going to eat all my bardic inspiration, and on the last hand lore sounds really cool and 3 extra skills sound nice, but I just don't see the appeal of mastermind it sounds and appears cool though the features look either niche or unimpactful, and I know a lore swashbuckler build would be an absolute disaster although I can kind of see hexblade fitting in, but that could my bias.
We have a Barbarian, but the other two haven't chosen a class and the likelihood that it is one that involves high intelligence is unlikely, so that's why investigation is one of my proficiencies, I wonder what they're going to choose they're newer players than I am so this should be interesting.
We have a Barbarian, but the other two haven't chosen a class and the likelihood that it is one that involves high intelligence is unlikely, so that's why investigation is one of my proficiencies, I wonder what they're going to choose they're newer players than I am so this should be interesting.
Get a cleric or paladin. If you don't you're pretty much doomed.
You should check your alignment. Evil characters are often banned by DMs, and a lot of groups don’t want to play with them at the table. You are part of a team. The dark, edgy, lone wolf shtick can get tired real quick for everyone else.
I'm not making him edgy I'm making him a jerk and a little reluctant to do things for npc's in need, but will do what's in the best interest of the party 99% of the time unless it's musical. I think my DM will be good with lawful evil, but idk I'll double check.
That's the exact kind of behaviour Xalthu is talking about, though. If you play a jerk, there must be good reasons for the other characters to hang out with your jerk character. Other than "you are all players in the same group".
You should check your alignment. Evil characters are often banned by DMs, and a lot of groups don’t want to play with them at the table. You are part of a team. The dark, edgy, lone wolf shtick can get tired real quick for everyone else.
I'm not making him edgy I'm making him a jerk and a little reluctant to do things for npc's in need, but will do what's in the best interest of the party 99% of the time unless it's musical. I think my DM will be good with lawful evil, but idk I'll double check.
That's the exact kind of behaviour Xalthu is talking about, though. If you play a jerk, there must be good reasons for the other characters to hang out with your jerk character. Other than "you are all players in the same group".
It'll probably be mainly to NPCs, but if the players do something that will make him want to declare he is superior at something he will like I said he has a superiority complex not a murder hobo boulevard of broken dreams complex
We have a Barbarian, but the other two haven't chosen a class and the likelihood that it is one that involves high intelligence is unlikely, so that's why investigation is one of my proficiencies, I wonder what they're going to choose they're newer players than I am so this should be interesting.
Get a cleric or paladin. If you don't you're pretty much doomed.
I was thinking of playing a Centaur Devotion Paladin, but I decided to go with the Bard.
You should check your alignment. Evil characters are often banned by DMs, and a lot of groups don’t want to play with them at the table. You are part of a team. The dark, edgy, lone wolf shtick can get tired real quick for everyone else.
I'm not making him edgy I'm making him a jerk and a little reluctant to do things for npc's in need, but will do what's in the best interest of the party 99% of the time unless it's musical. I think my DM will be good with lawful evil, but idk I'll double check.
That's the exact kind of behaviour Xalthu is talking about, though. If you play a jerk, there must be good reasons for the other characters to hang out with your jerk character. Other than "you are all players in the same group".
It'll probably be mainly to NPCs, but if the players do something that will make him want to declare he is superior at something he will like I said he has a superiority complex not a murder hobo boulevard of broken dreams complex
Again, that's still dark, edgy, lone wolf territory.
You should check your alignment. Evil characters are often banned by DMs, and a lot of groups don’t want to play with them at the table. You are part of a team. The dark, edgy, lone wolf shtick can get tired real quick for everyone else.
I'm not making him edgy I'm making him a jerk and a little reluctant to do things for npc's in need, but will do what's in the best interest of the party 99% of the time unless it's musical. I think my DM will be good with lawful evil, but idk I'll double check.
That's the exact kind of behaviour Xalthu is talking about, though. If you play a jerk, there must be good reasons for the other characters to hang out with your jerk character. Other than "you are all players in the same group".
It'll probably be mainly to NPCs, but if the players do something that will make him want to declare he is superior at something he will like I said he has a superiority complex not a murder hobo boulevard of broken dreams complex
Again, that's still dark, edgy, lone wolf territory.
I'm going to try my hardest to steer clear from edgy, again like I said he's just an a**whole not a I'm sad and lonely and ark and brooding nihilismness all the time.
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I just started playing D and D about 4 months ago I was wondering if this might be a good build. I was thinking of making a sinister, but elegant drow bard with a white viol and fights mainly with a rapier he has a bit of a superiority complex, and won't back down from a challenge(especially musical) to a fault, but with some character development though that'll change.
Race: Drow
Background: Charlatan
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Standard Array stats/ Stats Racial Ability Score Increase:
Str 8
Dex 12/ 14
Con 14
Int 13
Wis 10
Cha 15/ 16
Class: Bard 15 Warlock 3 Rogue 2
Skills: Intimidation, Persuasion, Stealth, Charlatan: Deception, Sleight of Hand
Equipment:
Features and ASI's:
Level 1-2:
Bard Cantrips: Friends, Vicious Mockery, + Drow Dancing Lights
Bard level 1 spells: Dissonant Whispers, Healing Word, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Thunderwave, Unseen Servant, + Faerie Fire from Drow a 3rd level
Bardic Inspiration(d6)
Jack of all Trades
Song of Rest
Level 3:
Proficiencies: Medium armor, shields, martial weapons
Warlock Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Frostbite (I don't have SCAG otherwise I'd have a melee cantrip on here.)
Warlock level 1 spells: Armor of Agathys, Hex(or Witch Bolt)
Pact Magic: The Hexblade
Hexblade's Curse
Hex Warrior: Rapier
Level 4:
Bard level 2 spells: Invisibility
Retrain: Thunderwave --> Shatter
Bard College: College of Whispers
Expertise: Deception, Intimidation
Psychic Blades
Words of Terror
Level 5:
Warlock level 1 spell: Witch Bolt(or Hex) + Darkness from Drow level 5
Eldritch Invocations: Devil's Sight, Mask of Many Faces
Level 6:
Proficiencies: Investigation, Thieves' tools
Expertise: Investigation, Stealth
Sneak Attack(1d6)
Thieves' Cant
Level 7:
Warlock level 2 spell: Misty Step
Pact Boon: Pact of the Chain
Level 8:
Bard level 2 spell: Phantasmal Force
New Bard cantrip: Thunderclap
ASI/Feat: +2 Cha
Level 9:
Cunning Action
Level 10:
Bard level 3 spell: Enemies Abound
Retrain: Phantasmal Force --> Hypnotic Pattern
Levels 11-20:
ASI/Feats:
So anything I should change or tweak, or just remove. Feedback is appreciated. I understand this was a little and long and frankly quite messy so thank you for reading the whole thing.
This looks good. I'm guessing you've read a lot of Ultimate bard/hexblade/rogue stuff? Cause this seems to be based off of that type of stuff. I would take comprehend languages or another utility spell, as you seem to lack in that department (which is a shame, as bards, rogues and warlocks have some amazing utility). So maybe try to balance out combat, RP and exploration. You only have combat and roleplay at the moment (little bit of exploration).
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Pretty sweet, dude.
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Sounds like a pretty standard and stereotypical Drow bard, regarding both stats and character. Thunderclap isn't a very good cantrip, I'd take something a bit more utilitarian instead. Maybe mage hand? If you want to keep people away from you, I'd keep Thunderwave.
You should check your alignment. Evil characters are often banned by DMs, and a lot of groups don’t want to play with them at the table. You are part of a team. The dark, edgy, lone wolf shtick can get tired real quick for everyone else.
Drop any attack cantrips that aren't Eldritch Blast, in favor of fun utility cantrips like Message, Dancing Lights, Friends, Gust, etc etc. There's just no reason for them.
Do note, Hex and/or Hexblade's Curse are going to compete with your Bonus Action economy from Rogue (Cunning Action) and Bard (Bardic Inspiration). Not a dealbreaker, but do keep that in mind when thinking about what your combats are going to look like.
If you' don't mind being an Eldritch Blast bot, it really frees you up to drop all attack spells, in favor of taking more utility and social spells. But if you don't want to do that and do want to take things like Shatter etc.... that's ok too.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
You're delaying your first ASI until level 8? That's a little rough. I'm playing a triple classed Swords/Hexblade/Swashbuckler myself and I took Bard to 4 for a feat, took one level of Hexblade, and then took 4 levels of Rogue and even for me that one level delay of an ASI between level 8 and 9 felt a bit rough.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I'm not making him edgy I'm making him a jerk and a little reluctant to do things for npc's in need, but will do what's in the best interest of the party 99% of the time unless it's musical. I think my DM will be good with lawful evil, but idk I'll double check.
I'll probably drop Witch Bolt and Hex, and as for cantrips I'll probably drop thunderclap, and frostbite, although without agonizing blast I won't be able to capitalize on Eldritch Blast so I'll probably keep Shatter for the advice
A few more questions:
I was thinking he'd be a bit squishy in between level 5-7 a little less so after, but he doesn't get 3rd level spells until 10th level so telll me.
K I took a little closer look at this, with your stated goal of being a "sinister, but elegant drow bard with a white viol and fights mainly with a rapier he has a bit of a superiority complex, and won't back down from a challenge(especially musical) to a fault."
The big takeaway I see is... I'm not sure what water the Warlock levels are really carrying here. Yes, I get that Hexblade lets you use Charisma for your melee attacks, but what I'm seeing is a character that already wants to pump Dex and Cha, so using Cha as a melee attack stat isn't essential. "Otherworldly patron" just isn't part of your core concept, and I think the Warlock levels are diluting and distracting you from emphasizing your snooty fencer angle. Pact of the Chain seems very unnecessary, unless a tiny sidekick fencer Sprite is a core conceit of the character. Mask of Many faces is nice for social encounters, but kind of thematically redundant with the Mantle of Whispers you'll be getting at Bard 6... or with just learning Disguise Self, and using a spell slot to cast it when appropriate. Devil's Sight is cute, but you aren't a character that's trying to optimize frequent casts of Darkness, so it doesn't seem essential. And Hexblade's Curse really is only relevant for one or two fights a day, and isn't that essential. Just drop the 'Lock.
Point number two is those abilities. Having a higher Constitution than Dexterity is unusual, and ultimately makes you less defensively capable. I'd drop Con to 10, bump that Dex up to starting 14(16), and use the two points you've saved to.... bump your Intelligence up to 14 if you really want to show off your smarts? That being said, there's really nothing you stopping from roleplaying a clever character with a lower Intelligence score, all that that 13 or 14 is getting you is a very small bonus to some Knowledge skills and Investigation (which could more than be made up for with a bonus proficiency or even Expertise, if its important to you)... so I'd drop it to 10 and just trust that nobody is going to give you a hard time for roleplaying as more clever (or, thinking that you're more clever) than your stats back up. That would let you start at 8/14(16)/14/10/10/15(16), which is a respectable spread for a melee-duelist/charisma caster.
I think you should take a few more Rogue levels, once you've dropped Warlock. Instead of Swashbuckler (some ok Charisma synergy, but ultimately kind of 1 dimensional), I think that Mastermind would be an excellent subclass for you. Master of Intrigue at Rogue 3 will go very nicely indeed with the earlier mentioned Mantle of Whispers at Bard 6. The Bonus languages and tools it gives (overlaps with your chosen background, which DNDBeyond and most DMs will let you just pick two other replacements) lets you be even more cultured than you already are (maybe pick up some parlor games of skill or chance, like chess or cards?). The bonus action help action will synergize nicely with hurling snooty insults or condescending advice to your allies, and give you a thematically-similar but not-resource-limited alternative to handing out bardic inspiration to allies (which you may be wanting to reserve for your Psychic Blades ability). Stopping at 6 should be sufficient, or even earlier at 4 if you don't care about having more Expertise and using a reaction every round to half damage from one source.
It's time to talk about College of Whispers. Again referring back to ""sinister, but elegant drow bard with a white viol and fights mainly with a rapier he has a bit of a superiority complex, and won't back down from a challenge(especially musical) to a fault."... I don't get mind-shattering creepo vibes off that description, but that's basically what College of Whispers is about. They psychically invade their victims, inflicting fear, stealing their faces, and doing creepy damage with their Psychic Blades. It's cool stuff, and if what you're really after is Psychic Blades, I get it... but a pompously cruel aristocrat with a drive to be the best at dueling, music, and everything else... I think there's better Colleges for that. Specifically, I think that College of Lore could be great, since it makes you better at more things (bonus skills), and lets you mock your opponents so viciously that it actually makes them bad at things (Cutting Words at 3). Or College of Swords, to actually be good at combat and combat tricks, and not just stabbing people in the brain with your cheaty psychic knives! Especially with you being a Lawful Evil drow, the theme of these colleges (good at being smarter than everyone around you and making sure they know it; great duelist) seems less likely to lead to you crossing the line into "not fitting in" than College of Whispers will (good at being a horrifying monster that shatters minds and steals faces).
To pivot back to Rogue for a second... if you do elect to go College of Swords and focus on your "I'm the best duelist!" angle, Swashbuckler might be a more attractive Rogue subclass than Mastermind. It'll let you dance around the battlefield acrobatically without worrying about attacks of opportunity, and so expand the breadth of enemies that you can sneak attack that you'll be freed up to go where your heart takes you instead of being tied to the hip of the tank to set up an adjacent ally to your target. But if you elect to go College of Lore and focus on "I'm more clever than you, peasant!" angle, I think that Mastermind is still the right subclass if only for the ability to use your Bonus Action to meaningfully belittle your opponents or backseat drive your allies.
Feats... I don't think there are any that are essential to your concept, which is in a way great since it frees you up to take ASI and become more competent more quickly, or for putting off ASI to push for multiclass features early. Inspiring Leader is a must have in every party, and gives you a mechanical justification for "leading" your group with pompous prognostications... and some stuff like Drow High Magic or Lucky could be nice.... but overall, no must-picks for you that I see.
Skills... I'm not sure why you aren't taking Performance if music is important to you, or why that isn't a contender for Expertise early on if you want to be the best at showing off. Intimidation, if anything, feels a little out of place for a character that may be more about mocking/bluffing/showing off than trying to scare people, I'd swap it out.
Put it all together... and I think I'd recommend you build up to a Bard 16/Rogue 4 or Bard 14/Rogue 6, either Lore/Mastermind or Blade/Swashbuckler (or, Whisper/Mastermind if you're set on that). If you're playing from 1, instead of giving you a level 20 snapshot (which will check off all the expected boxes like maxing Cha, Dex, tons of expertise and proficiencies, spells yada yada...), let's look at a snapshot through level 6, which is about where your first arc or adventure might take you.
Starting at level 1, I'd start with Bard and 8/14(16)/14/10/10/15(16). Three instruments, and Performance, Persuasion, and Stealth, along with Deception and Sleight of Hand from you background and the Disguise and Forgery Kits, and Perception from your race. For spells, Prestidigitation (or Minor Illusion, something to help jazz up your performances) and Vicious Mockery, in addition to the Dancing Lights you have as a Drow. For leveled spells, Hideous Laughter (for when you want to really humiliate someone or disable an opponent), Disguise Self (for when your mouth or race has gotten you into trouble and you need to get out), Charm Person (for when there's a troublesome guard or impressionable countess that could use some Enhanced Persuasion), and Silent Image (for pulling the wool over the eyes of helpless rubes). The only problem I'm seeing with this list is it's a bunch of Wisdom saves... but we can fix that in a level or two.
At level 2, I'd stick with Bard, because Jack of All Trades is the quickest way to be able to pass yourself off as The Best (or at least, Competent) at a wide variety of things. Healing Word is a good pick up if you want to be a productive member of the team, Thunderwave diversifies your combat options and the target saves of your spells (though it sounds messy, and I don't think it really fits the character's theme), or Sleep can be a good non-save non-concentration alternative in both combat and social encounters. Probably, Healing Word first is the responsible choice.
At level 3, I'd still stick with Bard: if you're going Lore, you've opened up the ability for your Cutting Words to really hurt some feelings and let people know how much better than them you are, as well as proficiency in three more skills (Acrobatics, Athletics, and Investigation?), and Expertise in two (Performance and Athletics, I'd recommend, because they're two of the most likely to "embarrass you" if you were ever to fail!). If you're going Sword, you've opened up better armor, some combat tricks, and the option to start seriously considering Two Weapon Fighting if you so wish, since your blades are now spell focuses instead of that battered Combat Violin you've been lugging around (I'd stick with Dueling though, Rogues already have plenty of use for their Bonus Action). Drow has opened up Faerie Fire, nice enough for a niche application, but for our new level 2 spells I'd suggest either Invisibility or Shatter to finally give you a damaging AOE not based on a WIS save (which is still terribly crude, but is at least less messy than Thunderwave and can be themed as a musical note or something!)... let's say Shatter.
Are we ever going to pick up Rogue?! Not yet as a Lore Bard (all it would really get you is a fair number of skills and Expertises... but we have Jack of All Trades covering that for the time being), but quite possibly now if we went Sword college, since you'll be wanting to mix things up and start handing out Sneak Attacks. Assuming you're going snooty and smart with a Lore bard, at level 4 you get an ASI (+2 to Charisma), Message or Mage Hand (I think Message comes up more often), and Invisibility (if you do a lot of solo operations) or Heat Metal (to help you cheat at duels or cook'n'book hulking opponents who outclass you in melee). Optionally you could also retrain Charm Person to Suggestion if you want to be a dick about it, but I wouldn't.
Finally! At level 5, it's time to turn to Rogue, if you're ever going to do it at all (and hey, a pure Bard is perfectly fine if you're digging your groove so far!). At Rogue 1, you get a new skill (Insight or Intimidation, I think Insight is more appropriate as a man of culture), as well as two more Expertises (Stealth and Perception?). A 1d6 Sneak Attack is nice, but how much mileage you get out of that may depend on whether you're leaning into Lore/Mastermind or Blade/Swashbuckler, only time will tell. Kind of a light level, as is the next one, but we have to put in our dues to unlock that level 3 ranged Help action or new Sneak Attack delivery method.
At level 6, second level of Rogue. It seems light, but the ability to Dash, Disengage, or Hide with that Bonus Action will honestly really start to make your combats more dynamic if you use it right. Being able to waltz bold as you please right into the enemy's back line at the start of combat is great!
Okay I'll cheat and go one further to level 7, because that's where you've realized your Rogueishness, everything after it is optional and could be more Bard or a third class. As a mastermind, suddenly you're great at Dice, Cards, and Chess (because of overlap with your background tools), as well as remembering that you speak French and Cantonese, and some particularly tasty insults to sling around as ranged Help actions. As a swashbuckler, suddenly you're running around giving wedgies to ogres without fear of Opportunity Attacks, getting a +4 to your Initiative rolls, and sneak attacking solo casters in the back line when you corner them alone. In either event, your Sneak Attacks just went up to 2d6 as well, nice.
So there it is, my recommended 1-7 build for a character that is a "sinister, but elegant drow bard with a white viol and fights mainly with a rapier he has a bit of a superiority complex, and won't back down from a challenge(especially musical) to a fault." You're a little less "sinister" (no psychic knives, face stealing, cthulu patron, or mind melting), but you're a much better rapier fighter (better AC, more focus on melee, especially as a Sword/Swash), and a better arrogant bastard (more skills and more focus on helping your team be better and enemies be worse, especially as a Lore/Master)... and I think honestly you're less likely to be singled out as a "monstrous" and evil character this way.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Thank you that was really helpful my warlock levels were intended bring effective use of friends with mask of many faces, so I could dump dexterity in favor charisma, medium armor proficiency, and devils sight to use darkness, but I realized that's drow's darkness is incompatible with spell slots, with armor of agathys and psuedodragon pet as an added perk, but I'm now realizing that, that could've been problematic, and I couldn't think of a good patron I couldn't really see him working with a patron either, I also saw College of Whispers as more eerie, but I can see where it says they're more turn everyone against each other muhahahaha stuff, and I could get stereotyped, and probably called edgy even though I'm go for more a a**hole type character, I'm having trouble deciding which bard college to choose I'm going to read over swords, valor, lore, and whispers again, but I'll probably end going with the swashbuckler build with either swords, or valor. The choice is though while valor is more supportive it's more effective as well, but swords has a fighting style and blade flourish, but it's probably going to eat all my bardic inspiration, and on the last hand lore sounds really cool and 3 extra skills sound nice, but I just don't see the appeal of mastermind it sounds and appears cool though the features look either niche or unimpactful, and I know a lore swashbuckler build would be an absolute disaster although I can kind of see hexblade fitting in, but that could my bias.
We have a Barbarian, but the other two haven't chosen a class and the likelihood that it is one that involves high intelligence is unlikely, so that's why investigation is one of my proficiencies, I wonder what they're going to choose they're newer players than I am so this should be interesting.
Get a cleric or paladin. If you don't you're pretty much doomed.
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
That's the exact kind of behaviour Xalthu is talking about, though. If you play a jerk, there must be good reasons for the other characters to hang out with your jerk character. Other than "you are all players in the same group".
It'll probably be mainly to NPCs, but if the players do something that will make him want to declare he is superior at something he will like I said he has a superiority complex not a murder hobo boulevard of broken dreams complex
I was thinking of playing a Centaur Devotion Paladin, but I decided to go with the Bard.
Again, that's still dark, edgy, lone wolf territory.
I'm going to try my hardest to steer clear from edgy, again like I said he's just an a**whole not a I'm sad and lonely and ark and brooding nihilismness all the time.